Italian-American Recipes Just like grandma used to make!

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

Hated this as a kid, love it as an adult! Yummy Stuff!!!

Prep time: Approx. 30 min. ( A Lot more if you consider that time it takes to make the pasta sauce.)Cook time: Up to 55 min.Total time: Approx. 1 hr. 15 min.Temp: 350 degrees FYield: 6 – 10 Servings* Scroll down for recipe videos and photo gallery.

Eggplant Parmesan Ingredients:

1 batch of Anthony’s Pasta Sauce already made. (Extremely important!)

Large Eggplants (Nice pretty eggplants about 10″ in length)

Note: When picking out eggplants be sure they are not to firm. You want them just a little soft. This indicates that they are ripe and ready for cooking.
A little milk… (about a tablespoon)

4 to 5 Eggs

8 oz. package of Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese (Polly-O brand)

Fresh Parsley (This is Important!! It MUST be Fresh Parsley!)

Parmesan Cheese (about a (3) handfuls… you know, enough to sprinkle over the top of the eggplant layers like a light snow 😉

See below for VERY detailed recipe instructions

Directions:

Important Note: You need to plan ahead for this recipe. I recommend making the sauce the night before and starting the Eggplant early in the morning. The Eggplant slices need to be pressed to remove any water from them and they will have to sit for a good 4 to 5 hours or so. More about the Eggplant press below.

Pay attention now, there are very specific direction here, one false move and wammo! Yucky eggplant.

First
You will need to wash the eggplants and then peel them. Use a potato peeler or are very sharp knife. After you have peeled the eggplants you will then have to make eggplant slices. You will want to make the eggplant slices about 1/4″ thick or a little less.

NextNow this part is oh so important!!! So listen up. ~ Gently layer the eggplant slices into a large strainer, (place the strainer on top of a plate for drainage). Put the eggplant slices in the strainer in flat even layers. Add a little salt to each slice as you are layering in the eggplant slices. Once you have all the eggplant in the strainer you will need to get a plate that is slightly smaller than the top of the strainer. Small enough to press down on the eggplant slices. Get something heavy like a few thick books or several plates the same size and place them on top of the plate so as to press down the eggplant slices. What you are trying to achieve is an eggplant press. This will squeeze out any water or oil that is in the eggplants. Let this sit with the weight on top of the eggplant slices for about 4 to 5 hours or so.

Next
Get a large non-stick pan or a well seasoned cast iron skillet and add a thin layer of olive oil to just cover the bottom of the pan (about 1/8″ deep). Get oil nice and hot so you can brown the eggplants.

Next (Egging the eggplants)Some people flour and bread the eggplant, my grandma didn’t, so I don’t! Beat (4 or 5) eggs into a wide flat bowl and add a little milk. Mix well and add a little black pepper to the egg mix. Then dip the eggplant slices into the egg mix.

Important Note:Try to evenly spread the egg over the eggplant slice so it’s totally covered with egg. Now drop the eggplant slice covered with egg into the oil, which has been heating up while you’ve been doing this. Fry the slices until they are golden brown on each side. You will have to flip them while frying. Then place the fried slices onto a plate with about 3 pieces of paper towels, so they can drain well. Also take 3 pieces of paper towels and put them on top and press to remove excess oil. Replace top greasy paper towels with new paper towels which you will place the next layer of fried eggplant slice on. Repeat this system of draining until all slices are fried.

Next
At this point you will want to pre-heat your oven to 350 Degrees F.

Next
You will need a 14″x10″ baking pan or as close to that size as you can get. Add a thin layer of Anthony’s Pasta Sauce to the bottom of the baking pan. (Just enough to cover the bottom.)

Next
Add one layer of Eggplant Slices. Important Note: Do not overlap slices. Fill up the entire bottom of pan with one layer of Eggplant slices.

Next
Then add some more of Anthony’s Pasta Sauce on each of the slices, just enough to cover each slice. You will want to also add a little bit of sauce in-between the eggplant slices filling up all the wholes and crevices. Spread the sauce with the back of a large spoon.

Next
At this point you will want to get the Mozzarella and grate it all with a grater. You will also at this point need to finely chop up some fresh parsley (about 1/2 cup or so).

Next
Now you should have a pan with sauce, one layer of eggplant slices and a thin layer of sauce on top of that. At this point you will now need to add the following: Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese, enough to lightly cover all the sauce, add some grated Mozzarella cheese, a thin layer, and sprinkle on just a little bit of fresh finely chops parsley, and add a touch of black pepper.

Next
Now add another layer of eggplant slices and repeat previous process, leaving out the pepper. Sauce, Mozzarella, fresh parsley, Parmesan cheese.

Next
Add a third and final layer of eggplant slices. (You can add mozzarella on top or not. I have made it both ways, both are good). Just add a thin layer of Anthony’s Pasta Sauce over everything, including filling in all the holes and crevasses and corners. Smooth all this out with the back of a large spoon. Then add a thin sprinkling of Parmesan on the very top.

Important note about the eggplant layers: When layering the eggplant slices, feel free to stager them, they don’t have to stack on top of each other.

Next
Now you need to get some tin foil and cover the top of the pan. Place the pan in your pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 10 – 15minutes. If it is watery, you want the water to boil off. Important Note: Watch this part closely, you don’t want to burn the top. When finished cooking let the eggplant Parmesan pan site for about 10 – 15 minutes so everything can settle or else it might be soupy when you serve.

Agree, quite a treat! Seems to be one recipe a lot of Italian restaurants screw up, nothing worse than mushy eggplant, that seems to be what I get at Italian restaurant all the time, mushy eggplant. Nice thick slices and they must be salted and “pressed” for a while then cooked in the oil briefly at high heat. YUM!

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Happy Cooking, Happy Times, Share The Love!

For all of you wonderful
people who miss your
Italian grandmother’s
cooking and for those
that wish they had Italian
grandmothers. These
recipes are for you! Go ahead, cook all day, sit at the table
and eat! Share laughter
and love in the kitchen
and at the table! Mangia!

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These are amazing Italian cookies! They are called Taralli, pronounced (Ta-Dolls). They are really an Italian pretzel. What makes these special is the texture and the fennel seeds! I used to teeth on these when I was a baby! Learn how to make them like hey did in the old days!.

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The photo above is me at 20 with my grandma Salerno. She is why I created this entire website. It's really a tribute to her cooking and the love she poured into the cooking for the ones she loved!